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The first time Nick notices something off is when Charlotte and Hancock sit down to eat their noodles at Takahashi's and plant themselves to his left and right instead of sitting together. Nick casts a look around but can't find anything wrong with the empty chairs around them. But for some reason they put him as a buffer between them. Oh, they still chat and laugh and flirt like they usually do, but Nick is no idiot. The two of them are practically connected at the hip these days. Obviously they got into a fight with each other and need some space. Nick isn't particular hot on potentially ending up in the crossfire but he'll do it. They are his friends, after all, and he wants to see them happy.
So he makes a point to never make one of them feel excluded or say anything that could create tension. It's exhausting, especially since he has no idea what they disagreed over, but he sort of makes it to the end of the evening, mourning the fact that he can't get a good night's rest to recharge himself. He hopes the two make up, and soon, because he's not sure he can take playing the airbag for their relationship troubles. After their dinner he accompanies them to the gate, both out of courtesy and to make sure Hancock doesn't get harassed. Charlotte's got enough pull in the city to make most people look the other way when she brings her lover along, and some even recognise Hancock from before, but better be safe than sorry. He couldn't stand to see something happen to him. They stand and chat, while Charlotte excuses herself, saying she's got something to tell Piper about. Knowing Charlotte's adventures and Piper's curiosity Nick resigns himself to a long wait. Not that he minds. Hancock is pleasant company, currently regaling him with the story of how he broke up a fight between Daisy and Irma, barely getting away with his life in the process. He talks with his hands, smiling brightly like he's started doing more often lately. There are a lot of things Nick is grateful for but Charlotte walking into Hancock's life and making him smile like that again is at the top of his list.
He's known Hancock since he was a little boy, playing with his brother in the streets and always stopping to say good day to old Nick. Hancock growing older and becoming an adult was like watching his own child come into their own. The confusing feelings that followed not so much. Nick has spent years avoiding Hancock so he doesn't have to deal with emotions that really only complicate things, him being a synth at all. The moment Hancock became a ghoul has been almost a relief. Even dressed in that charming get-up, hair fallen out and face as inhuman as his own, Nick recognised Hancock in an instant. He shouted at him a lot, then. Almost the entire night after Hancock's surprise visit he spent dressing the man down. What he was thinking, he could have died, why would he throw his life away like that. That night Nick's come dangerously close to confessing everything. He remembers the words lying on the tip of his tongue, begging to be spoken but he knew even then that it was no use. There is no cure for being a ghoul and ever since then Nick's lived with the knowledge that the young man he fell in love with carries with him the weight of the world and the constant threat of going feral.
He's glad he can't sleep, because it means he can't dream either. The first years after Hancock went ghoul have been horror enough without nightmares he doesn't have control over. But for all the worry that Nick still has for his friend, he's changed enough that Nick no longer feels conflicted about having fallen for someone he remembers seeing running about in nothing but his diapers.
“You look like you've got a load on your mind.” Hancock says and tears Nick from his musing. He realises he has no idea how Hancock's tale ended and mutters an awkward apology for not listening.
“Don't worry about it. I'm really only running my mouth so it doesn't look suspicious when I keep starin' at ya.”
Nick gapes. He stutters and stares at Hancock who looks at him with the same innocent honesty in his eyes as always. Nothing betrays the fact that Nick is fairly sure Hancock just flirted with him. He could be wrong but somehow he doubts it. Hancock used to do that before, some easy flirting every now and then and Nick's always brushed him off. But he hasn't said anything of the like ever since getting together with Charlotte, who's still in Piper's office and has no idea that her boyfriend just came onto her best friend.
Nick searches for something to say, doesn't know how to kindly let Hancock know that he has no business saying things like that when he's still in a relationship. He hadn't realised things between him and Charlotte are that tense. He finally opts to pretend it never happened.
“You were talking about Irma ripping Daisy's wig off?” he says desperately, wondering how in the world he's going to make this right. If he should tell Charlotte. No, that would only make things worse. There's still the slight chance that Nick's simply misunderstood things and Hancock had no intention of flirting with him.
Hancock falls back into his tale and shortly after Charlotte emerges from Piper's house, grinning from ear to ear. Looks like tomorrow's newspaper will be interesting. They say their goodbyes and Nick returns to his agency while Charlotte and Hancock go out to do whatever they made their latest mission. On the way there he tells himself that he's overthinking things and there is no real evidence that Hancock has eyes for anyone but Charlotte. He's just paranoid.
The trend of Nick being a physical barrier between Charlotte and Hancock continues. It seems whenever the three of them are together Nick ends up in the middle. He's tried to subtly reposition himself but whenever he does one of them will move in a way that seems completely casual but keeps Nick as the cushion between the two. He's increasingly worried about them. Neither has talked to him yet about any problems and Nick trusts they will come to him if they need a shoulder to cry on. As much as he wants to help he won't pry if they want to keep it to themselves. But the tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife and Nick desperately wishes he could do something to help his friends out. When Charlotte asks him to accompany her on an errand he points out that Hancock is much better suited for the task.
“I'm sure he is, but I want you along on this one. Unless you've got other responsibilities?”
He has, but nothing more important than having a chance to spend time with Charlotte. He feels horrible about it but he looks forward to a few days with just the two of them, doing what they do best, as a team. And obviously she won't have him try to persuade her of taking Hancock along instead. Charlotte takes the lead as always and soon they're out and about, hiking to some old factory to retrieve some doodad or another. Nick hasn't listened all that closely. He trusts Charlotte to have good intentions with what she's doing and everything else is just details.
Retrieving the object goes relatively smoothly, except for one raider getting in a lucky shot at Nick. The bullet hasn't damaged anything but it's lodged uncomfortably between his spinal plating and grates on his wires with every movement of his head. The moment they have a some relative quiet Charlotte makes him sit down on a crate, illuminating his inner workings with the flashlight on her pip-boy. She's kneeling behind him and her chest rubs against his back while she searches for the bullet. Nick keeps his hands in his lap and tries not to think about how deliberate some of those moves feel. As if she wants him to feel her. Which is ridiculous, since she loves Hancock despite whatever trouble they have at the moment. That much is clear from all the times she talks about him and Nick is glad she has found someone to help her get over the death of her husband and he isn't at all jealous about not being that someone.
“I see it.” Charlotte says. Nick hums to indicate he heard. There's some shuffling on her side as she gets into a position that will make it easier to remove the bullet.
“I'm gonna pull it out now, okay? I need you to stay still.”
Nick is well aware of the risks of damage coming to his spinal wires, but he's warmed by her concern nonetheless.
“Ain't my first rodeo.” he says, hoping he sounds calmer than he feels. He can count the number of times he had to do repairs in that area on one hand. He's never let anyone else do it. At the first touch of her fingers against his neckplating he flinches violently, causing Charlotte to curse and draw back.
“Did I hurt you?” she asks, shocked and immediately concerned. Nick shakes his head.
“Sorry. Just startled me. Try again.”
She does, after some hesitation, but puts her free hand on his shoulder to steady him. This time her touch doesn't come unexpected and he manages to stay still until he feels the pressure from the bullet lifted. He sags in relief after testing that nothing's been damaged and turns around to see Charlotte idly turning the bullet between her fingers.
“We really need to get you some skin grafts.” she says and Nick feels a sharp prick of self-consciousness. He tries to deflect it with a joke.
“Ain't much you can do to pretty this old frame up.”
Charlotte swats his head gently.
“That's not what I mean and you know it. You're plenty handsome already.”
Nick laughs because he doesn't know what else to do. With some effort he can convince himself that this is just a compliment from one friend to another. Charlotte knows he can be insecure at times, even though he usually does a good job at hiding it with dry wit. It doesn't have to mean anything but the incident with Hancock still rattles around in his brain. What if they are really that estranged already? If they are both looking for comfort because they can't get it anymore with each other. Nick doesn't know what to do. He's wrong, he has to be. There is no greater team in the world than Charlotte and Hancock. They wouldn't break apart like that.
“Nicky?”
Charlotte squeezes his shoulder gently. Nick clears his throat and does his best impression of a genuine smile. Lucky for him his face makes all his expressions look a bit forced, so there's no chance she'll catch on to his light dishonesty.
“It's nothing. How about we get back to it? We can make good time before sunset.”
Charlotte doesn't look convinced, damn her for being able to read him so well. And it looks like she has no intention of letting it go.
“Something's wrong. Was it something I did?”
“No.” he says quickly. A bit too quick perhaps. Charlotte's brow furrows in disbelief. Nick's never been good at lying to people he cares about. But damn him, he's gonna try. If he only manages to let her down easy, to remind her that Hancock is the one she really wants, maybe things will go back to normal.
“Come on, don't you want to go back to your sweetheart? I'm sure he misses you.”
It's a lame attempt but it seems to do its job. Charlotte gets that smitten look on her face whenever she thinks about Hancock.
“You're right. This is no place for a heart-to-heart anyway. Let's go.”
For days after that Nick is almost sure Hancock and Charlotte have gone back to normal. He doesn't see them much but when he does they're all mushy and sweet with each other, feeding each other sweets and swapping hats while walking hand in hand along the streets of Goodneighbor. Nick's in town for a case, chasing leads on a man who owes his brother a sum of caps he apparently doesn't have any intention of paying. Usually cases like these resolve themselves practically on their own, since everyone with something to run away from sooner or later ends up in Goodneighbor. But this time the man he's looking for is a tad smarter than his usual clientele and has done a not half-decent job at covering his tracks. It leads to Nick being frustrated out of his mind after even his usually so reliable source of information in the form of Whitechapel doesn't give him what he's looking for. He finally gives up for the night and returns to the Old State House where Hancock lets him stay whenever he's in town. Usually he checks in with him before he turns in to recharge his batteries but today he makes sure to be extra quiet and head straight for his room. Before he left this morning Hancock and Charlotte have been particularly frisky with each other and with any luck they're either still at it or comfortably cuddling and in either event Nick doesn't want to disturb them. He's happy that everything seems to be alright between them. He can forget about either of them ever flirting with him.
Or he could if Hancock hadn't just called him over. He stills in the entrance hall, looks up and deliberates just acting like he hasn't heard. But then again Hancock is the host here and he doesn't want to show bad manners so he climbs the stairs up to Hancock's little den of iniquity, wondering what in the world he wants from him.
Charlotte is with him, as Nick expected, and both of them have very little in the way of clothing, as Nick very much didn't expect. He halts in the door, eyes wide and deliberately looking at anything but the two sitting on the couch close together.
“You, uh … I thought I heard you call for me.” Nick says to the ashtray on the coffee table, no longer sure he didn't just imagine that happening.
“I did. Come on over, Nicky, we don't bite.” Hancock says and if there was any doubt just what the two have been doing all day it's gone now. He sounds positively fucked out, his voice is even huskier than usual and filled with satisfaction. Nick makes a few cautious steps towards them. He has no idea what's going on and that leaves him helpless.
“Closer.” Charlotte says and pulls him onto the sofa the moment Nick's in her reach. Her hands are around his wrists while Hancock catches him before he can stumble, helping him get settled between them, through no choice of Nick's. He's back to being the no man's land between their bodies and this time there's no mistaking what's going on here. He only wonders which one will foolishly and thoughtlessy confess to flirting with him first as a way to end a relationship Nick thought and hoped would last forever.
“So, we've been talking.” Hancock drawls. He shows no intention of letting go of Nick. He even starts playing with his tie while Charlotte calmly rests her chin on Nick's shoulder, her arms around his waist.
“Y-yeah?” Nick says, dreading that maybe they will hold him responsible for all of this. He's had enough cases like these to know that the ones jilted lovers are most angry at are usually the people their partner has been sleeping with, rather than the partner themselves.
“Yeah.” Charlotte says directly by his ear. If his skin were capable of producing goosebumps they'd cover his entire body. “Hancock says you've been making eyes at me.”
“I- I didn't. I haven't. I'd never …”
“Shh.” she makes and to his horror she brushes her thumb over his lips right in front of Hancock. But instead of reaching for his shotgun Hancock just smiles and loosens Nick's tie.
“You still have that crush on me, Nicky?” he asks while unbuttoning Nick's shirt. Charlotte meanwhile pulls off his trenchcoat.
“I don't …” Nick collects himself. “Look, even if I did, I'd never do anything about it. You two are great together, don't let me come between you.”
“Oh, I don't know.” Hancock says as Charlotte chuckles. “You coming between us sounds like a great plan.”
Finally the bottlecap drops. Nick looks from one to the other, doesn't know how to formulate that he has picked up on the innuendo but can't believe what it means. There is no way they both want him, no way that all this time they've been trying to seduce him. He's been so careful with his affection, has always done his best to make sure neither of them knows about his feelings for them. To think that all this time they knew and don't mind, on the contrary, want him to be a part of what they have. All that is best put into words by saying, rather intelligently: “What?”
Charlotte laughs and lets her hands roam over his shoulders and down his arms, lightly kissing the skin along it's torn borders.
“We want you, Nick. For the sex, for the fluff, for the noodle dates. All of it. Is that okay with you?”
He wants to answer but Hancock is faster, claiming his lips for a kiss and he's never felt anything like that, Charlotte at his back, Hancock in front of him both of them touching him with pure unadultered desire.
“Are you sure?” he asks the moment Hancock lets up and instead goes to work on his belt. He doesn't even know when he's lost his shirt or where it is. “I can't have sex in the conventional sense. I don't know if there's any other.”
His belt snaps open and Hancock grins up at him from below.
“Why don't we find out?”